So, I feel comfortable on my bike and am venturing out into unknow teritories. Here is the question... I learned in my MSF class that when taking curves slow in, fast out, go for the outside then head inside by the apex and the back outside. A few questions here... just where exactly is the apex and what if you cant see the end of the curve... here in NJ a curve can go along at a nice even angle and then all of a sudden towards the end it gets really sharp... If I cant see the whole curve, how do I know when to go from inside back outside?
Thanks!
Susan

Susan - You can only make that decision when you know it's safe to do so. Even if you know the turn, you've been around it many times, you don't know what's around the corner now. You have to be able to see what's in front of you. Never anticipate a safe and smooth line around a curve. Be ready for anything, including coming to a quick stop.

Ah, this sounds familiar!

And what you just described is the decreasing-radius curve; the ever-so-hard-to-predict-what-angle-to-lean-because-the-curve-keeps-changing!

What do the physics equations say about decreasing-radii? If you have a marble going down a spiral that is decreasing in radius, the marble... speeds up and sometimes flies out of its track! Let's not do this on a scooter!!

my approach has been to:
slow down a bit

start on the outside of the lane

aim for the middle of lane at the point in the curve that vanishes around the bend (this is not always the apex of the curve)

- this gives me the opportunity to dive in further if I can see the road ahead is clear... and to keep my line if the curve tightens... and to swerve back out if some idjut coming toward me is drifting beyond their lane

if the curve tightens, then you have to be ready to lean and put more pressure on the handlebar that is in the direction of turn.

Its a little scary - I can't say that I've mastered this but after having some surprises while riding where the end of the curve is not visible, I'm a bit more cautious.

Here susan, take a look see on page 2
http://www.scooterdivas.com/forum/viewt ... ing+curves

Just reading about this in "Proficient Motorcycling". If you are approach on the outside of the curve, you have much more visibility of the road ahead, and of the curve.

Great book, and actually pretty interesting (after I get past the physics stuff...I try, I really try, but it is soooooo boring.)

Not knowing where the curve goes is the hardest part for me. It is great to say "look where you want to go" but since I don't know where the curve is going I am not sure where that is

When I can't see the end of the curve, I just look at the vanishing point of the road at the bend... the key for me is to keep moving one's focus further and further through the curve, otherwise I get fixated on a point (which is not good).

And not cutting the apex too close to the center line is really important.

Today a truck came around a curve with 2 wheels over the line into my lane, fortunately I was far enough away to stay on the right of the lane. Read the first chapter of Proficient Motorcycling for another really sickening example of maintaining a cushion on the apex until you can visually keep that 2-3 second margin.

Just look ahead as far as you can see and go as slow as you need to!

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Here's another thing that helps me a LOT when going through turns and such:

Always keep your head level with the horizon. You lean the scooter and you lean your body, but don't lean your head. Like this:



OK, that's super exaggerated, but see how much that bike is leaning, and how the racer's head is pretty much level with the horizon? I find that this technique SLOWS DOWN TIME ITSELF. Not tipping your head with everything else somehow lets your brain process visual data much faster. It gives you time to sweep your vision through the turn and plan your trajectory. Tipping your head makes everything come much faster.

I do this and on a turn where I can't see the exit, I keep moving my visual focus as far ahead in the turn as I can. I tend to hug too close to the yellow lines in left turns, so I'll send my focus to the outside edge of the road and that helps, too.

But no matter what the rest of your body and scooter are doing, if you keep your head square with the horizon - NOT with the road angle - in other words, it's independent of what the immediate landscape is doing - then you suddenly have a lot more time to process and plan your line.

Susan, you might want to go here http://www.dps.state.mn.us/mmsc/latest/MMSCHomeSecondary.asp?cid=5&mid=82&scat=26 and read what they have to say.

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i tend to take curves and corners slow and soft since i ride a trike style scooter, but i can see where you would lean and keep your head level with the horizon on two wheels. On any scooter, trike or not, going around curves or corners you have to always be
on the look out for trouble. and always make sure that you are traveling at a slow enough speed to be able to react and leave enough of a space cushion between you and traffic. I know that ya'll know a lot of this stuff but it bears repeating.